A giant asteroid crashed into Earth, and that’s what made the dinosaurs go extinct.
Imagine you’re playing in your favorite sandbox, and all of a sudden, a huge rock falls from the sky and hits it. That’s like what happened to the dinosaurs, except instead of a sandbox, it was their whole planet!
What Was the Asteroid Like?
The asteroid was really big, about 6 miles wide! It hit Earth near where Mexico is today. When it crashed, it made a giant hole in the ground and sent a lot of dust and rocks into the air.
How Did That Affect the Dinosaurs?
The dust blocked out the sunlight, so plants couldn’t grow as well. The dinosaurs depended on those plants, some ate them directly, others ate animals that ate the plants. It was like a big chain reaction.
Also, there were huge fires and maybe even a big wave from the crash. All of this made it really hard for the dinosaurs to survive, and eventually, most of them died out.
Examples
- A giant rock hit Earth, causing massive fires and darkness.
- Volcanoes erupted for a long time, changing the climate.
- Dinosaurs couldn’t adapt to the new environment.
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See also
- How did dinosaurs survive?
- What Caused the Great Dying?
- What are fossils?
- What Makes a ‘Fossil’ Different from a ‘Bone’?
- Is there any evidence that sexual selection may lead to extinction of species?